About us

Here at Maple Ridge Nursery we grow one of the largest collections of Japanese Maples in the Southeast as well as a large selection of Conifers specifically selected for the southeast. All of our plants are grown here in Georgia so they are well suited for our climate. Mike and Christy Francis started our family business in 1988.
      Hello, I am Mike Francis. I grew up in the nursery business, as my Grandfather Henry Haralson (a great man) was a nurseryman who owned his own nursery for 35 years. He taught me how to grow things and appreciate plants. 
       I worked in marketing and real estate until we opened our nursery in 1988. My wife Christy (my enabler She makes my passions possible without her nothing would ever get done) and I have run  two closely related businesses. Greenhouse Nurseries, which was our retail Nursery, and The Maple Farm which was the wholesale branch. In 2007 we consolidated the two into Maple Ridge Nursery.
        I am a collector at heart with a wide range of interests. We collect conifers such as Chaemacyparis, Cedrus Deodara, and Cryptomeria. The # of cultivars of these is growing so fast I would hate to guess how many we have.  We have over 200 varieties of hostas and of course our Maples of which we have over 350 cultivars of Acer palmatum collected. I have been speaking and writing articles on the subjects of Japanese Maples and Conifers for about 10 years. I have had talks with as many as 200 people in attendance and as few as 10, but if I can get 1 interested person to listen it makes me happy to talk about the plants I love. I also have a passion for Koi and Water Gardening. 
     Christy and I have 2 children Michael 16 and Alyson 4.  Family is more important than anything. Please excuse the toys and things laying around the nursery as our children are being raised here when not in school. We are trying to instill the values of hardwork along with the pleasure of working with the soil and a healthy respect for the eviroment.